Punch Front
by emilyanne7246
Summary: Bella was a major gymnastics star on the national team and in line to go to the 2008 Beijing Olympics when the accident happened. Now Bella is trying to bring her gymnastics back to front and center while she's told it's no longer possible. AU AH HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys, with such a positive response for my other story, I thought that I would try another one. I have had this idea stuck in my brain for a long time and I have never been able to find a good story by another author. This is just a teaser. Let me know what you think and if I should continue...

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"Bella over here!" Charlie called. I could see him from the gate of the airplane. Sighing to myself, I began to walk over to him. This was it. I was officially going to be living in Forks. After the _accident _I gave up my passion, picked up, and moved. I couldn't stand the painful memories in Arizona. I had promised my friends I would write but knew in my heart that I probably wouldn't. I didn't want anything to do with that place anymore, that sport.

"Hey Bells good to see you. How are you feeling?" Same old Charlie. Absolutely zero conversational skills.

"Fine dad, I'm fine." Was I really? No. That much was obvious. I missed it. The thrill, the excitement. I sadly rubbed the cast on my left wrist. While I may say that I didn't care, that I had already moved on, I'm not sure that I was really fooling anyone, especially not myself. No more excitement for me. Charlie fidgeted nervously and then led me off to the baggage claim. Once we had my bags we headed toward the cruiser. Ugh, just what I needed, to be hauled around in a cop car all the time. Like I wasn't already going to be getting enough attention being the new girl with the broken wrist. As long as no one found out my true identity I would be good.

When we got home I headed straight up to my old room. I found the mahagony floors and purple paint soothing and I breathed a sigh of relief. Alone. Finally. I began to unpack my belongings. All of my trophies were placed neatly on the shelves on the wall with my posters placed decisively around them. _Only a week left _I kept telling myself. Seven days and then I could get this horrid cast off. Of course then there would be the therapy and building my strength back up. Any kind of strenuous activity strictly prohibited for at least four weeks. Well that's what the doctors said any ways. I was determined to make it two though they need never find out about my doings... I needed to get back in the game. My broken wrist was _not _going to put me out of commission and ruin my life. Despite what I said, I had _not _moved on.

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**AN: LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! SHOULD I CONTINUE? REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry that it took so long to update. School and life have been crazy lately. Hope you enjoy the chapter and please REVIEW! Also check out my other story. It is much further along and I'm really liking the direction that it is taking :D

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Previously: Seven days and then I could get this horrid cast off. Of course then there would be the therapy and building my strength back up. Any kind of strenuous activity strictly prohibited for at least four weeks. Well that's what the doctors said any ways. I was determined to make it two though they need never find out about my doings... I needed to get back in the game. My broken wrist was _not _going to put me out of commission and ruin my life. Despite what I said, I had _not _moved on.

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I woke up to my alarm blaring in my ears. I groaned but got up. Having been in gymnastics for so many years getting up early was no problem for me. We always did 6 am practices. No the groan was because I did _not _want to go to school. Today was my first day and I was absolutely dreading it. I had been home schooled since I was in the 1st grade. Gymnastics just took up to much of my time and if I wanted to be serious about it I couldn't afford to lose practice for school.

Because of my home schooling I was advanced. I elected to just stay in the junior year when I could have taken senior level classes. No need to draw any more attention to myself than necessary. With any luck I would heal and get back to gymnastics and leave this town before anyone ever knew that I was an Olympic level gymnast.

I got up and got ready. I threw my hair up in an intricate bun. With gymnastics I never wore it down and I guess old habits just die hard. I went down stairs and found a note from Charlie sitting on the kitchen table. _Hey Bells- I had to leave for work. Check out front… _There was a set of keys on the table next to the note. I walked out the front door and saw my BMW convertible sitting in the driveway. Despite the fact that I didn't want to draw attention to myself I couldn't help but be excited. My car was my baby. I had gotten it from my sponsor for the Nationals. They had let me keep it after my accident.

I quickly got in and smiled as the engine purred to life. I sped out of the driveway down the street. I loved the speed that my car offered. I made quite the entrance at school. All of the other cars in the parking lot were much older than mine. In fact, the only other car that seemed remotely nice was a silver Volvo parked a few spaces down from me.

I ignored the spectators and headed for the main office. As I entered the office the plump lady sitting at the front turned to look at me. "You must be Isabella Swan" She said warmly

"Yes" I replied. I wasn't much of a conversational person. When you grew up in the middle of a competitive sport you learned only to trust your team mates and your coach. I had never had much social experience outside of gymnastics.

"I have your schedule here and a map of the school. Just have this slip signed by each of you teachers and return it at the end of the day." She said unfazed by my abruptness.

I thanked her and headed towards my first class. English Lit. This should be easy. I loved reading when I wasn't doing gymnastics. Sometimes I just needed an escape from the intense sport. I got my slip signed by the teacher and headed to the back sitting quietly and waiting for class to start. I would have gone completely unnoticed had the teacher not made me introduce myself.

"Class we have a new student, Miss Isabella Swan. Isabella would you please stand up and introduce yourself?"

I grudgingly stood and turned to the class. "Hey I'm Bella. I moved here from Arizona. Thanks." The entire class began to whisper excitedly. Apparently word hadn't gotten around that the Chief of Police's daughter was moving back to Forks. I ignored the whispers. I was used to gossip and insults from the other girls in my sport. You just had to brush them off otherwise you would never make it anywhere.

The day continued on in a similar fashion. My classes were extremely easy and I had already covered most of the curriculum in my homeschooling. I had a lot of offers from people to be shown around but I ignored them all. As the bell rang for lunch I made my way slowly to the benches by the football field. I had a strict diet to maintain if I wanted to keep my shape so I had my homemade salad for lunch instead of the awful cafeteria food.

A few cheerleaders were down on the football field practicing. I watched them in disdain. The girls were trying to do a simple round-off back hand spring back tuck. They were sloppy. Their legs were flopping all over and they weren't keeping their bodies tight. I ached to go down to the field and show them how their simple moves were _really _done. Only a week left I told myself.

I rushed home after school was over. Just because I couldn't do any real gymnastics didn't meant that I couldn't condition. I ran on the treadmill for an hour and then proceeded to do crunches, one armed push-ups, and other strength training excersises. I felt much better when I finished. Excersising always helped me to relax and focus on the important things in life.

I went downstairs to cook dinner for Charlie and myself. I'm sure that he hasn't been eating as healthy as he should. I made a simple pasta and he walked in the door just as I placed it on the table. "Hey Bells. How was your first day?"

"It was fine" I replied unenthusiastically and then I added in a cheerier tone, "thank you so much for having my car shipped up here dad. It really means a lot to me."

"Of course" He mumbled embarrassed. We finished dinner and Charlie headed off to watch some football game while I did the dishes. I then went upstairs finished my homework and went to bed early. I had to get a routine established. I planned on getting up for my usual 5 am run tomorrow morning.

I refused to become slack. The doctors and my coaches may say that there was no hope for me to come back in time for the Olympics but I was determined to prove them wrong. I would stay in shape and breeze through my physical therapy and I would be back doing the sport that I loved in no time. I pushed down the part of me that had doubts. What if I couldn't do it? What if my wrist didn't heal properly? What if I couldn't get over my silly fear of tumbling?

After the accident I had not done any gymnastics, obviously, and I was a tiny bit nervous to get back and perform the dangerous tricks again. While I loved the thrill I had now seriously injured myself and I wasn't certain how I would be when I got back to my training.

_You'll be fine_ I scolded myself silently. There was no other option. I was going to train and as soon as I was back to perfect I would perform the stunt that had injured me. And I would do it perfectly.

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**AN: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! **

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	3. Chapter 3

**AN: YAY! Another chapter! Hope you guys enjoy :D PLEASE REVIEW!

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Previously: _You'll be fine_ I scolded myself silently. There was no other option. I was going to train and as soon as I was back to perfect I would perform the stunt that had injured me. And I would do it perfectly.

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As I pulled into the parking lot at school this morning I was in a much cheerier mood. I had gotten a call from my new doctor this morning. He had told me that I would be able to come in this afternoon and that I may be able to get my cast off early. When I broke my wrist I had to have surgery where the doctors inserted multiple pins and wires. Then I got my cast. I've already had it for 3 weeks.

I sat down quietly in my first period planning how to get ahead on my physical therapy. With any luck I could be back to training by the end of the week. Maybe it would be just simple things but anything was better than what I was doing now.

My thoughts turned to my old friends in Arizona. Were they ever really my friends? There was Lexi. She was just a complete brat. Competition and drama were the only things she ever cared about. In fact, my broken wrist guaranteed her a spot on the world's team. Then there was Pay. She was always there for me but anyone who really knew her knew that her only goal in life was to make it to the top. The 2008 Beijing Olympics.

My only real friend from Arizona was Ali. She and I had been doing gymnastics together for as long as I could remember. Ali was always there for me. She was my one true friend. We did everything together: practice, home schooling, and hanging out. We were practically inseparable. She was all but my sister. Ali had moved to Arizona and lived with a distant aunt so that she could do gymnastics. I had never really heard much about her family. I knew that she had a brother she was extremely close to but that was it.

Ali had tried to stay in touch with me after the accident. She had come to the hospital but I had requested that she not be admitted to see me. She called me and texted me to the point where I had to block her number. She sent me emails and tried to chat with me. I just couldn't bear it. We had always done gymnastics together. What if she was like the other girls? What if she didn't want anything to do with me after my accident? In my heart I knew that Ali would never do that but I just couldn't face her. The last I had heard she had taken a break from her gymnastics to go and be with her family. I couldn't help but feel it was my fault that she was giving up on her dream as well.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the bell rang. Class passed quickly and I made my way to Calculus. The girl next to me, Jessica was her name I think, started a conversation with me in Calculus. "So what was Arizona like? I heard that it's like totally awesome. I want to go anywhere but Forks when I graduate. What was your name again?"

"Bella"

"Right well you should like totally eat lunch with us today!" She continued to babble on all period and I just nodded my head and said the occasional mm hmm to keep her happy. When the bell rang after my fourth period I found Jessica waiting outside to escort me to lunch. When we got to the table she introduced me, "Hey guys this is Bella. She's sitting with us today."

I was introduced to everyone at the table. They all just began chatting away. I felt left out. The girl next to me turned to face me. "Hey I'm Angela." I smiled softly at her. She seemed like a really sweet girl. Shy though. I wasn't sure how she had become friends with Jessica's crowd.

Just then the doors to the cafeteria swung open and 5 gorgeous people walked in. "Who are they?" I asked Angela.

"Oh. That's the Cullens." She said softly, "They keep to themselves. The amazing blonde one, that's Rosalie. She's with the big one, Emmet. Edward is the one with the copper hair. He is so gorgeous." I couldn't help but agree and I wondered why he wasn't with anyone. The honey blonde guy is Jasper and he is with Alice." I looked up when she said Alice and my breath caught. It was my Ali.

What was I going to do? I had been ignoring Ali for weeks. She was going to hate me. How would she ever forgive me? And how could I keep my identity a secret when she was here? This could not be happening.

I turned to Angela and said quickly "I have to go. See you later." I rushed out of the cafeteria and found a bench to sit down on. I would just have to stay away from Ali. She always called me B or Izzy. Maybe she wouldn't recognize Bella Swan. I could just avoid her and she need never know that I was here. Besides, I doubt that she'd want to see me anyways.

With my mind set I made my way to the rest of my classes. Time passed slowly and every time the bell rang for passing period I grew more and more nervous that Ali would discover that I was here. When the final bell of the day rung I rushed out to my car and sped off towards the hospital.

I walked through the sliding doors and wrinkled my nose at the aweful ammonia smell of the hospital. I made my way over to the cheerful nurse at the front desk and gave her my info. She gave me some paperwork to fill out and sent me to wait for the doctor.

"Isabella Swan" A smooth voice called. I looked up into the eyes of a perfect blonde doctor. He didn't look a day over 25. I followed him back to the exam room where he introduced himself, "Hello Isabella, I'm doctor Cullen." Cullen. Cullen. Ali _Cullen _Brandon. Ali had been adopted when she was a toddler. She chose to keep her last name but used her adoptive parents name as a middle name. So this was her adoptive father.

Could my day get any worse? How was I supposed to avoid Ali when Dr. Cullen was going to be seeing me for my wrist? "So Isabella, how did you injure your wrist?"

"Uh call me Bella. I… um… I fell."

"I see. Well it says in your file that you had major surgery yes?"

"yeah"

"well I think that you could get your cast of today"

All of my worries were erased in a second. I could get my cast off. _Finally._ I may want people to believe that I had no interest in gymnastics but that was just not true. I couldn't believe it. I could get through my P.T. and be back by the end of next week if I worked hard. I could be back training. My head felt light. "That would be wonderful" I told Dr. Cullen quietly anticipation leaking into my voice.

He chuckled softly and went to get the necessary equipment.

Look out world, Isabella Swan was on her way back to the top.

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**AN: So that's Chapter 3! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**

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	4. Chapter 4

**AN: 9/14: So here's the next chapter! I'm really liking where this story is going, hope you guys are too! I'm going to try to update every other night (I'm alternating with my other story Flying Blind), so look for the next chapter on Thursday :D As always please REVIEW!

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Previously: He chuckled softly and went to get the necessary equipment. Look out world, Isabella Swan was on her way back to the top.

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Just had he had said Doctor Cullen had removed my cast. My wrist was skinny and somewhat sore but I pushed through the pain. I had been doing a few basic strength exercises that the physical therapist had assigned in all of my free time. She had told me to be careful not to overdo it, but I ignored her.

I rushed home from school this afternoon and went straight to my room where I pushed my bed against the far wall. My room had beautiful mahogany wood floors that were perfect for what I needed. I laid down a couple basic yoga mats side by side. This was the true test, whether or not my wrist could handle basic gymnastics.

I started out with small flexibility exercises and progressed from there. When I found that my wrist could handle all of the basic stuff I stood up and carefully launched into a hand stand. My wrist felt perfect. Better than perfect, like nothing ever happened. Testing the waters some more, I bent from my handstand into a basic back bend. I stretched to the limit. Nothing. No pain, no aches, nothing.

I couldn't help the grin that broke out on my face. I probably shouldn't have pushed any further but I couldn't help myself. Going to the far end of the room, I did a quick back hand spring. Those put a lot of strain on the wrist when you went back. My newly healed injury held. I got so excited that I just started doing everything and anything that I could think of. When I was sure that my wrist was perfect I celebrated and did my first perfect back layout step out in months.

I felt absolutely exhilarated. With how my wrist felt, absolutely nothing would stand in my way of recovering. I went to shower and go to bed. Tomorrow I was going to find some real space to practice in and start working my skills back up to perfect.

My alarm went off at 5 am and I dragged myself out of bed to go on my daily morning run. Now that I had the use of my wrist back, it was more important than ever to maintain my peak condition. When I got home I showered quickly and intricately braided my hair. I managed to run out the door just on time. When I got to school, I headed straight for the office. Now that my wrist was better I would have to join a basic P.E. class.

The lady at the front desk told me that there were only three classes open: Comp. Phys. Ed, Weight training, or basic tumbling. How ironic I thought to myself. "Basic tumbling" I requested quietly. She adjusted my time table and sent me off. My new P.E. class was last in the day. I worked diligently on my school work all day so that when I got home I had plenty of free time to get my gymnastics up to par. My plan was to get back to a hundred percent and then announce to my parents that I was going back into gymnastics immediately. I would, of course, be dropping out of school and starting my private tutoring again. I had been looking online to find a gym near Washington. There was no reason at all to get my hopes, because Ali had every right to hate me, but I hoped that we could find a competitive gymnastics club near here to start fresh at. We were both qualified for the worlds team so all we had to do was show up to the practices and then do our best at competition.

I wondered what Ali would do though, when she found out that I was here. Would she hate me? And why had she given up gymnastics? I didn't know the answers but I was going to find out, although that would have to wait. Ali could _not _know that I was going to her school until I was positive it was the right time to tell her. I had been going to the library at lunch so as to avoid her and so far I had only had a few glimpses of her in the hallway but she was always preoccupied.

When 7th period came around, I made my way through the court yard towards the gym. There were mats of all sorts laid out across the floor. A dividing curtain was hanging from the ceiling. One have of the gym would be for the more advanced tumblers, the other for the beginners.

I walked over to the coach and introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Isabella Swan. I've been transferred into your class."

"Alright then" the coach said brightly, "do you want to dress out today or sit out?"

"I'll dress out" I said barely concealing my excitement. Any time I had to improve the condition of my wrist was worth it. The coach went to get me a uniform and I made my way to the locker rooms. I got a lot of attention from the other girls as I dressed out. I was in extremely good shape because of my gymnastics and it attracted some unnecessary attention. I sat down on a bench and patiently wrapped my wrist. I was confident that it would be fine but I didn't want to take any chances.

A blonde girl in a skimpy cheer-leading outfit noticed what I was doing. "Going to do tumbling on a bad wrist?" She snorted disbelievingly.

"Yes" I said quietly, "my wrist will be fine. I've dealt with worse pain"

"Like, whatever. It's not like you can like do better than me anyways."

"What was your name" I asked her icily.

"Lauren"

"Well then Lauren" I sneered "why don't you mind your own business." She stomped away. I just rolled my eyes at her stupidity. Of course I could do better. I was a frickin world class gymnast. I think I had passed the test for back handsprings and sloppy tucks a decade ago. Not to mention that I've been dealing with girls like her for ages.

When I finished wrapping my wrist I walked out to the gym. The coach asked me kindly "Have you ever done any tumbling before?"

"Yes" I replied nonchalantly. "I'm advanced" That was an understatement.

"O.K. then" she said skeptically, "could you demonstrate your skill please" I shrugged and walked over to one of the mats. I could see the entire class watching me curiously. Lauren was at the front rolling her eyes. I smirked at her.

I hadn't done any extreme tricks since my cast had come off but I felt confident that I could do a simple one that would blow Lauren away. Contemplating what to do, I raised my hands in the air, pointing my fingers daintily. I had made my decision. I launched myself into a round off, back hand spring, layout, step out. As I flew through the air, the world around me melted into nothingness. The only thing that mattered was me. I focused completely on what I was doing and felt the rush of adrenaline that came with my gymnastics. I stuck the landing perfectly and raised my hands in the air again, smirking over at Lauren.

Her jaw had dropped. Actually, the entire class was stunned. The coach blinked and then said "Well then, that will certainly do"

I laughed and skipped over to Lauren. "Take that bitch."

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**AN: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!**

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	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I'M SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED! I know that it has been a really long time o.O things have been really crazy in my family right now and it's been hard to update both of my stories. I've just started getting back to updating my other story- Flying Blind- on a regular basis. Hoping to update this more often now that things are starting to get back to normal. This chapter is a little shorter- it's going to take a few chapters to get back into the swing of things- but I hope that you guys enjoy it! Again, so sorry about the update situation!

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**Previously: Her jaw had dropped. Actually, the entire class was stunned. The coach blinked and then said "Well then, that will certainly do"

I laughed and skipped over to Lauren. "Take that bitch."

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The next day I went straight to the office and requested to be moved out of 7th period tumbling. While it may have felt good to show off to Lauren, I did not need the new enemy or the attention. The lady in the office switched me into first period tumbling instead. I was glad that I was at least able to keep the class. I made my way off to first period. When I got there the coach gave me a questioning look but I just told her that my classes needed to be switched around and she accepted it.

I went to change out and I nearly had a panic attack when I saw the bag on the bench inside the locker rooms. It was Ali's bag. We had made matching gym bags together in the 9th grade and we had been using them since. They were all sparkle and glam with our names boldly printed on the outside. There was no mistaking that it was hers.

What was I going to do? I couldn't be in the same class as Ali. All of my carefully laid avoidance plans were crashing down around me. I dressed out and made my way back to the gym. I made sure to stand on the fringes of the crowd with my head down so that Ali wouldn't notice me. I saw her laughing and talking with some of the other girls. It made my heart break. I missed Ali. But she probably hated me now.

The coach sent us off to the separate sides of the gym. There were no boys in first period so one half of the gym was for the advanced tumblers and the other for the beginners. I was shocked when I saw Ali skip off to the side with the beginners. She was _not_ a beginner. Ali had always just been a step behind me. We were the top, the best. I was number one at nationals-even after my accident- and she was number two. I guess that she must just want to keep a low profile like me. Or maybe she had really given up gymnastics for good…

I pretended to not care that the doctors and coaches told me that I couldn't do gymnastics anymore. Pretended that it didn't matter to me, that I would move on, find something new. That I wanted nothing to do with gymnastics. But I knew in my heart that that would never be the case. I loved gymnastics. I could _never_ give it up.

When I found out that Ali had moved away from Arizona I thought that she was just taking a break, but maybe she was giving it up for good. After I had left she had eventually stopped calling me, stopped trying to contact me. Had this somehow been my fault? Had Ali left her gymnastics behind because of me? There was a good chance that the answer to that question was yes.

I was in a gloomy mood for the rest of the period. I just watched the other girls, doing no actual tumbling myself. I wasn't in the mood. The other girls were O.K. A couple of them had even mastered some of the more basic skills and were doing them quite flawlessly.

When the bell rang I quickly changed in a bathroom stall, checking to see if the coast was clear when I came out. The rest of the day went by slowly and I was eager to get home. After school, I went straight home and went down to the basement.

We had a finished basement that I used for my gymnastics. My dad had the house built with an extra large basement. I had a full size tumbling mat, a beam, a set of bars, and a vault down there. I headed straight to the tumbling mat. I started out doing some back handsprings and some basic layouts. Then, feeling confident in myself, started working on some harder tricks. I practiced my single twisting layouts and then when I had gotten those back to perfection, moved on to my full twisting double layouts.

I got to an Arabian Double Pike before I was becoming bored on the floor. I decided to test the bars out to see how my wrist would hold up. I started working with my mounts. (**AN: See video link on my profile) **When I had gotten through my mounts perfectly, I practiced basic giant swings, switching through my different grips. When I was done with the bars I practiced simple mounts and moved through my dismounts, starting with the simple ones and moving through to my most difficult. **(AN: see video link on profile)** I was becoming extremely confident with my wrist. It was holding up perfectly.

Charlie worked late that evening, so for the rest of the night I stayed in the basement practicing. I went through simple vault routines and all of my beam exercises. I was a little shaky on some of my moves but I managed to build up most of my skills to at least doable again. All of my exercises would need some serious perfecting if I hoped to go to national team meetings and compete in worlds with any chance.

But the important thing right now was that I had managed to complete my physical therapy in record time and I was back in the gym like nothing ever happened. I was trying not to let my excitement over flow, but I couldn't help but feel extremely happy with the way things were working out. I would wait to tell my parents, and the public, and Ali until I was back at 100%, but even with the wait and the hard work ahead of me, my life had meaning again. My gymnastics was making a serious come back.

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**AN: Check out the video links on my profile- they are some really cool moves- and PLEASE REVIEW ;) **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: YAY! This is DEFINITELY my favorite chapter so far! ;) Videos for all the gymnastics moves I mention in the story have links on my profile! Check them out, they are awesome! Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

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**Previously: I would wait to tell my parents, and the public, and Ali until I was back at 100%, but even with the wait and the hard work ahead of me, my life had meaning again. My gymnastics was making a serious come back.

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The rest of the week progressed similarly and it was now Friday. I had been lying low in gym class since my performance for Lauren. I worried more everyday about Ali discovering that I was here. It probably wasn't the best idea to flaunt my gymnastics in front of Lauren, because knowing her, it would be all over the school. I would just hope that it didn't come to that.

I was looking forward to the weekend. Charlie was going out on a fishing trip for the entire weekend which meant that I had the whole house to myself. I planned on training and working on perfecting my gymnastics once more.

The bell finally rang after gym and I made a quick exit. I had spent the period perfecting my back handsprings, and back walkovers, front handsprings, and so on. I could hear Lauren whispering to her posy that I only _really _knew one hard trick and that I was a complete fake. I just brushed it off. IN high level competitive gymnastics, perfecting the basics was extremely important. If you couldn't manage to keep good form and point your toes in a simple back walkover, how could you ever look perfect doing a double Arabian pike? It just didn't happen. I knew that to get back to where I was before the accident, I was going to have to spend long, tedious hours working on skills that I mastered years ago.

But none of that mattered. As long as I kept progressing smoothly, I would be back at worlds training later this year, hopefully with Ali accompanying me.

I reached my car, smiling as I sped out of the parking lot towards home. For most of the evening I worked on my basic beam skills. I started with basic rolls, moved on to walkovers, and stopped after working on my flic-flacs. **(AN: See video on profile) **I moved on to vault. My vaulting seemed to be the least out of shape of all of my skills. It was probably going to be the quickest to get back to an acceptable level for me.

After training my moves for quite some time, I moved on to basic conditioning exercises. Push ups, crunches, pull-ups, jogging, anything and everything that could help me get back to top, peak condition. I needed to get back on my feet, or more like back to flipping off them.

Saturday and Sunday went much the same as Friday afternoon. I woke up early to take long rungs to build up my cardiovascular endurance. Then I would alternate between training with the different skill sets and I would end the afternoon with strength training. Sunday, I was cut short when Charlie got home.

I was in a much more cheerful mood lately and Charlie seemed to notice. "Hey Bells" he greeted me "How was your weekend?"

"It was good dad" I said with a bright smile.

He looked confused but didn't say anything. I would tell Charlie and Renee that I was back to doing my gymnastics when I felt like I was at 100% again. After all, they probably would freak out because I really "Should have been supervised" and "what if something had happened to your wrist again?" But I didn't want excuses, I wanted my life back.

Monday morning I was up bright and early again for a jog. Then I headed straight to school, eager for the day to start so that it could end that much sooner. We were still doing tumbling and gymnastics in P.E. and I had brought one of my fancier leotards to work in today. I had sixth period off today and I planned to go and work in the gym before class started. Any time that I could get to practice was worth it.

When the bell after fifth rang I eagerly made my way towards the locker rooms. After this weekend, I was able to perform all of my skills again, even the toughest ones, although they weren't quite perfect yet, except for my double front punch front. It was supposed to be a double front flip with an immediate layout right after it **(AN: See video on profile) **but I always froze up on the "punch front" part. It was the same move that I had broken my wrist with. I didn't have enough momentum going into it and I wasn't going to make it through the layout. I stuck my hands out to try and brake the fall and completely shattered my wrist.

I wasn't sure how I was going to get over my new found block. I could pull all of my other moves, including my more extreme ones, just fine. But this one move was eluding me. I knew that I had to get it back. I wanted to come back into the gymnastics world with a bang, and what better way than to perform the very trick that took me out of the show.

I did some warm up stretches and exercises and then made my way to the end of the long tumbling mat stretched across the gym. I started with some easy passes: an Arabian double pike, a double front, and double doubles. Then I moved onto some of my harder passes: a full twisting double layout, and a Randi. I was pretty much avoiding anything that involved a punch front because, while I had completed some of them just fine, they still made me nervous. I was at the end of the mat again, cooling down after a particularly tricky pass and contemplating what to do next.

I was feeling confident and decided on one of my most difficult passes. A front flip to a triple twist. This was one of my favorite moves and some even considered it my signature. I did it so often that it was in almost every floor routine I preformed and I had practically perfected it. I saluted the empty gym, took a deep breath, and began hurdling myself down the mat. _Front flip _I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my blood _triple twist _the air whistled around me and I felt at home _and stick it._ I landed perfectly, took a minute to balance myself, and then saluted again.

Suddenly I hear a collective gasp. I whipped my head around, and there, in the doorway was Ali with the rest of our gym class behind her. _Oh shit. _I had really done it now. There was no way that she wasn't going to notice me after I just pulled my signature move off perfectly right in front of her.

"B?" She whispered, totally in shock.

"Ali" I replied in a small voice. And all of the sudden, it was like nothing ever mattered. It didn't matter that I had completely shut her out, it didn't matter that I had quit gymnastics, it didn't matter that we hadn't spoken in months.

She dropped all of her things and came racing towards me, hitting me and knocking us both to the ground. "B!" She squealed. We hugged fiercely, and then, we both burst into tears, sobbing loudly into each other's arms.

"I'm so sorry Ali" I cried into her shoulder.

"No. It doesn't matter. I missed you so much!" She forgave me just that easily. Everything was behind us and it was like the accident had never happened.

We sat there with each other until a snotty voice questioned loudly "What the hell is going on?" Lauren. _Again. _

"What do you mean what's going on?" Ali said sarcastically "I just found my best friend again. That's what's going on."

"Best friend?" Lauren questioned. "You've only been here a couple of months , and she's only been her for a couple of weeks" Lauren said it like it was so obvious.

"B and I have known each other since we were practically in diapers" Ali said harshly.

"From what?" Lauren asked, her voice completely disbelieving.

Ali looked at her like she was absolutely insane. "From gymnastics of course. B and I have been doing gymnastics together for as long as I can remember. We're on the U.S. national team this year and we have both have spots at worlds. In fact, she's number one and I'm number two. How could we not be best friends?"

Lauren laughed a shrill, screeching laugh and then said "Ya. Like I'm supposed to believe that! You two? National level gymnasts?" She laughed again.

I stood up and whispered to Ali "What do you think? A full twisting double layout good enough?" She caught on immediately to what I was asking and grinned at me. I grinned back. It was good to be back with Ali.

I turned to Lauren. "O.K." I said, matching her snotty tone "If my front flip to a triple twist didn't convince you, maybe this will"

Alice and I scooted to the edge of the mat, saluted, looked once right at each other, and we were off. Again, I was flying through the air… _round off… back handspring… full twisting double layout…. _Ali and I stuck it perfectly at the exact same time. We saluted grinning at each other. We had been doing gymnastics together for so long, that we could time practically any move to be exactly in sync.

We turned towards Lauren. "By the way" I said "we're actually international level gymnasts." She was standing there with the rest of the class, their mouths completely agape in shock. I just chuckled softly at them and grabbed Ali's arm. We made our way right through the throng of students to my car, climbed in, and sped off. The dream team was officially back together.

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**AN: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I am SO sorry for how RIDICULOUSLY long I have taken to update. I got a good case of writer's block and I was more focused on my other two stories: Flying Blind and Blind beauty. I hope that you can forgive me for how awful I have been as a writer! I am hoping to start updating at least semi-regularly again, but with two jobs and my final semester of high school taking up a lot of my time, I can't really make any promises... I hope that you guys enjoy the new chapter and that you stay with the story!

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**Previously: We turned towards Lauren. "By the way" I said "we're actually international level gymnasts." She was standing there with the rest of the class, their mouths completely agape in shock. I just chuckled softly at them and grabbed Ali's arm. We made our way right through the throng of students to my car, climbed in, and sped off. The dream team was officially back together.

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As soon as we were on the main highway, Ali started bombarding me with questions, squealing them so loudly that I could barely make out what she was saying. "What happened to you! I heard about your wrist but you wouldn't talk to me! And then you were gone! Don't you EVER do that to me again by the way! And all of the media said you were quitting gymnastics. I never thought that it was possible for you to quit but after a few weeks, I started to believe them. And oh my gosh I'm just so happy to see you!" She was literally vibrating in her seat.

"Ali, calm down" I giggled at her. "First things first" I began slowly, "I owe an apology to you. I should NEVER have shut you out like I did. I honestly can't believe you don't hate me… I was just so scared and confused. I had no clue what I was going to do… You know me, gymnastics is everything. And then everyone kept saying that I would most likely never come back… I couldn't handle it…" I was practically hyperventilating by the end of my little speech.

"Calm down B" Alice said softly. "Of course I forgive you. You're like my sister, I don't have anyone else in the world that I am closer to. And you _should_ have let me talk to you. I would have told you that what the doctors were saying was complete nonsense. I knew that you would find a way to come back." She was grinning at me. "You have to tell me EVERYTHING! What happened to you these last couple of weeks?"

I couldn't even begin to describe how happy I was to hear Ali say that we were good. Part of me knew deep down inside that we were never really separated in the first place, but it felt amazing to hear her say it and to know that my partner in crime was officially back at my side.

"Well you know it all started at nationals with that dreadful punch front. I always did hate those… Anyways, my wrist shattered. I'm sure that mom told you, but they had to put a couple pins in and I had a cast for a couple of weeks. I was devastated when I heard that I most likely wouldn't be able to compete anymore. Gymnastics is my life. But I gave it up. I tried to brush everyone's concern off and I put on a mask for the world. I was going to be fine."

She snorted "Ya right" I looked purposefully at her and she said "sorry, continue"

"I moved here with Charlie and I was going to be 'normal teen.' Deep down, I knew that I could never be normal, but I didn't want to admit that there was a chance I really _wouldn't_ come back from this one…" The car was silent for a moment as we both thought of what life would be like without gymnastics as our grounding force. I shuddered and continued, "My cast got taken off early- come to think of it, it was your dad that took it off- I had found out my first few days here that you were in town. I nearly lost it right then. I feel so bad for leaving you and I was sure that you would want nothing to do with me…"

"I was doing a good job of avoiding you until today…" I trailed off sheepishly.

"Whatever" she said exasperatedly, "I have _so _moved on from that. All that matters is that the dream team is back together and we will be better than ever."

"Once my cast was off, all I could think about was gymnastics. Not that I wasn't thinking about it before, it was just that as soon as I was free again, it seemed more real. More attainable. I spent every free second working on my physical therapy, and I breezed through it in mere days. To say that they were shocked is an understatement, but nothing was going to stop me from coming back. I started out slow, terrified that my wrist wouldn't hold, and you should have been there to see my reaction Ali" I giggled, "I was _beyond_ ecstatic. I have been working this past week to try to bring myself back up to speed. I really wasn't out for all that long, and I kept myself in relatively good shape. And you know the rest…" I trailed off.

"I am so excited for you!" She squealed happily, "I just _knew _that you would come back. Call it intuition." We laughed. It was our little inside joke that Ali could practically predict the future.

"Enough about me" I said abruptly, "What about you! You can't seriously be _quitting. _I mean you can't quit anymore than I could have!"

She grinned sheepishly at me. "I haven't really _quit_ exactly…."

"Spill" I demanded.

"When you left…" She hesitated "I couldn't figure out why you wouldn't answer any of my calls, why you were avoiding me. I got so scared that I had lost you for good and I just couldn't focus on my gymnastics. I kept slipping up and coach was getting way too frustrated. So I shipped myself back here, to my family. There is a small, private gym down in Seattle that I have been training at, but just enough to keep myself in condition for worlds. I never really meant to do it without you… But now you're back! And we can start training together again!" She had started bouncing in her seat again.

I rolled my eyes, but a silly grin made its way to my face. She was right; we were back together and even more unstoppable than before. The Olympic dream was back on track and Ali and I were full speed ahead.

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**AN: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Any constructive criticism is welcome! Hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter and check back for an update soon :)**


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